Bird
by SongBoid
Summary: 14 year-old Jenna tires of her rich lifestyle and leaves for the rough streets of Brooklyn. Disguised as a boy, Jenna becomes a newsie and befriends the infamous Spot Conlon. Soon Jenna wants to be more than friends, but Spot still believes she's a boy...
1. See Spot Flirt

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Newsies except for those who were not in the movie. Disney owns the Newsies and as much as I wish I owned them, I do not and I am not making any money off this.  
  
See Spot Flirt  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
'What if I just got up and left? Would they notice? Probably not...what am I saying? Of course not! Maria's newest suitor is far to rich and handsome for them to take their attention away from him for a mere moment to notice me leaving.' Jenna watched in disgust as her mother fawned over the handsome 22 year-old that had come to call on her older sister, Maria. As much as he was being conversed with and distracted, he seemed not to be able to take his eyes off Jenna, or rather Jenna's chest.  
"May I be excused?" Jenna didn't wait for an answer. Her royal-blue dress caught on the edge of her seat and she tripped as she tried to walk away. Alexander, Maria's suitor, rushed to her side as she began to fall.  
"Are you alright?" He had obviously decided that conversation with Jenna's bust was much more worthwhile than conversation with Jenna herself. With a curt nod, gathered her skirts and pushed past him towards the long staircase. With out saying goodnight, she hurried into the washroom to clean her face and retire for the night.  
Jenna stared at her image in the mirror. She studied her eyes, a pretty blue with specks of white, yes, but not stunning like her sister's shocking green. They were surrounded by a thick set of jet-black lashes, which was also pretty, but once again she was left below Maria. Her lips were normal-sized and a little redder than average, but nothing to be proud of, nearly every other girl she knew had naturally full, blood red lips set in a perpetual pout. Next she eyed her chest. For a girl of 15 she had small breasts, but the dress she wore was more revealing than her sister's, thus the cause of Alexander's staring. Jenna sighed 'Everything about me is average or below.' She thought as she toyed with her hair. That was the one thing that stood out in a crowd. Heads of blonde or black hair surrounded her, but hers was the color of roses and honey. It wasn't as dark as most upper-class girls', but not nearly as light as Maria's. But of course, her brown hair didn't fall into shoulder length curls as Maria's did, so once again she was caught in her sister's shadow.  
Jenna tiptoed down the hall to her room, where she was met with a portrait of her sister to remind her of how much higher she was in looks and classiness than Jenna. 'I shouldn't envy her,' she mused, 'she's shallow and cares nothing for anything but money and her own well-being.' Satisfied with this insulting thought of her sister, she rid herself of the heavy dress she wore and donned her cream-colored nightgown. She proceeded to brush her mid-back length and braid it when a knock echoed from her door.  
"Come in." the door let out a squeak and her father stepped in.  
"I was going to ask you to say good-bye to Alexander, but in would seem that you are not dressed appropriately. I will inform him that you say good night and I say the same to you. Good night sweet-heart." Her father left and again she was left alone.  
Jenna blew out the candle on her nightstand and opened her window. The stars outside provided more light than the solitary candle she had lit earlier. Jenna grabbed a book from the shelf and began to read by the light of the stars. The title of the book was the White Whale. She soon tired of the book that her mother had requested that she read, and set it aside. Jenna fell back on her bed and continued gazing at the stars.  
At some point, Jenna must have fallen asleep for when she opened her eyes the sun was shining through her open window. She turned over onto her stomach and curled into a ball just as her mother walked in.  
"Jenna! That is not an appropriate way for a lady to sleep." She pulled her daughters arms up until she was lying straight on her bed. "Anyway, it is time to get up. Now get up!" With out anything else to say, her mother glided out of the room.  
Jenna decided at that very moment that she despised being a 'lady' and living a wealthy life. It just wasn't for her.  
She stumbled over to her dresser, for she was still partially sleeping and grabbed the first dress she saw. As she put it on, she regarded her life. 'I suppose that even I am stuck-up in some sort of way. I claim to hate this life and yet I still continue to live it. I suppose that I look down on those who don't have as much money and stature as I. Life is too complicated.' Jenna walked down the stairs and smelled breakfast.  
When she entered the dining room, she noticed her entire family was already eating with out her. 'I see I was forgotten about...again.' Jenna sat and placed eggs and toast on her plate. When everyone was looking down at his or her food, she placed her eggs on the toast and wolfed it down. Before she stood, she grabbed two pieces of toast and hid them in her shawl.  
"I'm going for a walk." Once more, without waiting for a reply, she walked away, but this time through the oak-wood door that led to the street.  
The sun had just come up and the streets were becoming busy with shoppers, strollers, and Newsies. Jenna took a deep breath of the fresh air and closed her eyes; glad to be rid of the large house and the family inside of it. She looked down when she felt a small tug at her skirt. A little boy around the age of nine was looking up at her with big brown puppy eyes. He had dirt smeared on his nose and just about everywhere else that could be considered his face.  
"Buy a paper, Miss?" he had a weak raspy voice that sounded hungry. Jenna glanced at the dirty attire the little boy was wearing, filled with holes, and made completely of rags.  
"Are you hungry, darling?" She asked, ignoring the previous question. When he nodded she pulled out the toast she had been saving for later and handed it to him. It was still warm and crisp, and when she handed it to him his eyes widened and he nearly snatched it from her hands. "Now, what was it you wanted me to buy?" the first piece of toast was already gone, and the other was getting stuffed in a pocket. Still chewing, he pointed to the stack of newspapers that had been abandoned on the street next to him. Jenna took out a penny and handed it to him in exchange for a paper. She smiled at the little boy and turned to walk away but was startled into turning back when she heard that same small voice from only moments before yell loud and strong.  
"Cowboy! What are you doing in Brooklyn?" the little, sickly-looking boy had transformed into a lively, bouncy one at the sight of another boy about the age of 16. He ran and gave the older boy a big hug.  
"I'se here to see Spot. You know where he is, Smalls?" the boy, apparently named Smalls, nodded, took his hand and ran off to show him where this Spot was.  
'Spot, where have I heard that name before? It sounds awful familiar..." Jenna shook her head and continued on her walk.  
It wasn't long before she came to the Brooklyn Bridge. Jenna was surprised at how far she had walked with out realizing it. All the way to the bridge she had thought about the boy and how he made a living by lying to customers. It was shameful, yes, but he was happy, she saw that when the other boy came to visit. How she wished she could be happy like that.  
Jenna looked up at the sun. It was almost right in the middle of the sky, about Noon. She walked to the edge of the bridge and stared over the edge at the river. It might not have been a pretty river, or a clean one, but she had always loved the river for just being a part of nature. Jenna sighed contentedly as she stared out at it; it was a wonderful view, even if it was a view of muddy water.  
"Don't tell me you'se thinks that that is pretty! It's a river filled wid doit." Jenna jumped at the voice behind her. She whipped around in time to see a boy in red suspenders jump off the rail towards her. He had slightly long sandy blonde hair and blue-gray eyes. His eyes...His eyes seemed to be able to look through her soul. Jenna looked away from them and looked instead just above his shoulder.  
"Wh-where did you come from?" she asked, surprised to see that some one had snuck up on her like that. He smirked and walked over to her side of the railing.  
"Didn't you'se see? I came from thin air." Jenna shook her head and looked back out at the water.  
"No, its not pretty, it's just...just..."  
"Yeah, I knows whatcha mean. I'se Spot Conlon, by the way." He spit on his hand a stuck it out for her to shake. Jenna stared a moment and thought, 'Why not?' She repeated the disgusting gesture and shook his hand. The smirk had reappeared as Jenna wiped her hand on her dress.  
"So, did that Cowboy or whatever find you?" Spot gave her a surprised look.  
"You'se psychic or somethin' Yeah he did, how'd you know 'bout dat?"  
Jenna laughed and told him the story of the little boy then Cowboy coming up behind her. Spot smiled the whole way through the story, then explained,  
"The li'l boy woulda been Smalls, he used to be a Manhattan newsie wid Jack, er, Cowboy as you know 'im, but den his bruddah came to Brooklyn and brought him wid 'im. Smalls misses Cowboy like crazy." Jenna asked Spot what he did, and complained about her life, and then Spot did the same to her. About an hour had passed when they finally stopped talking and just stood there when Jenna started to quietly sing a lullaby from when she was little.  
"Wow, you'se sing like a boid." Spot commented on her voice and Jenna blushed, not used to singing in front of people.  
The sun was near setting when Jenna noticed it. She and this Spot Conlon had been talking for hours and Jenna had lost track of time. Alexander was supposed to have come over for dinner again that night, but that didn't matter, for she had already missed dinner. She started to walk off the bridge as she was talking and was followed closely by Spot.  
"Oh my god! I have to go, I'll be in so much trouble I was supposed to be home hours ago! It was great talking with you, but I-" Jenna stopped and looked around. She was off the bridge now and she had no idea where she was. "I'm kind of lost..." Jenna looked pleadingly at Spot, who seemed like he would know his way around the area, being a street rat and all.  
"Where ya live?" he asked with a smile. Jenna told him and Spot took her home.  
Her large house loomed above them, every window twinkling from candles inside. They stopped at her door and she turned to him.  
"Thank you. I probably wouldn't have made it home with out you." Spot shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets.  
"A goil like you shouldn't be wandrin 'round Brooklyn by 'erself anyway. Even if it is daylight." Jenna smiled at him and turned towards the door.  
"I have to go inside now." Spot and Jenna spit shook again, and this time she didn't find it so disgusting. "Maybe I'll see you some other time?" she said, 'Doubtful' she thought, but it was worth a try.  
"Yeah, maybe. I'se ill see you'se lata Boid." Spot turned and walked away from her home while she turned and walked in, where she was met by the three angry faces of her family. 


	2. Getting out

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Newsies except for those who were not in the movie. Disney owns the Newsies and as much as I wish I owned them, I  
do not and I am not making any money off this.  
  
Getting out  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Where on Earth have you been young lady? We were worried sick about you! You should have been back here nearly three hours ago! What could you possibly have been doing?" Jenna stared wide-eyed at her mother. She had never really raised her voice before, but then again Jenna had never been so overly late. "You missed dinner with Alexander, which I might add was TWO HOURS ago! I hope you're not hungry, if there was any dinner left, it would be cold by now, and you wouldn't have received any anyway. You may go to bed now."  
"Yes, Jenna, please remove yourself from our sight and go to bed." Her father, who never raised his voice, did not yell as her mother did, merely ordered her out of his sight. Jenna glared at her despised parents and sister, and headed up stairs.  
'I don't need you! I'm sick you all! It's apparent that you don't want me either. Goodbye my darling Mother, Father and Maria. Maybe I'll see you in the future.' Jenna didn't even bother stomping up the stairs; she just calmly walked to her room and sat down on the bed.  
"If I were a boy running away, what would I take with me?" Jenna sat for near five minutes talking to her, "Clothes, of course, but I have no boys clothes, I'll buy some when I leave. Money. Humph, my family has lots of that; they wont notice a little missing. I suppose that's all..." Jenna walked to her desk and picked up some paper and a pencil.  
*Dear Mother, Father, and Maria,  
I do apologize for leaving you like this; it's just that I couldn't take the pompous ways of this life. By the time you read this, which will probably end up being tomorrow afternoon, I will be long gone. Please don't look for me; you've already ruined my life enough.  
Your Daughter,  
Jenna*  
  
Jenna left the note under her pillow and put on her nightgown. She crawled into bed and awaited her father to come up and say good night. Just as she suspected, her father walked up only a moment later. He didn't knock. He just opened the door said goodnight and left. As soon as he was out of earshot, Jenna pulled out the note and set it in the middle of her bed. She put on one of her least fancy dresses grabbed a handful of money, crawled out the window and left the only life she had ever known behind.  
The night was dark and she had trouble seeing. Jenna had been smart enough to pick a cloudy night to leave. The dark clouds that foretold rain hovered below the stars, blocking out most of the light that would have guided her way.  
Lost in the dangerous streets of Brooklyn, Jenna wandered almost blindly until she found a bench where she lay down and fell asleep almost immediately.  
She opened her eyes to a little girl's sweet face. The dawn was cold and dew had settled over her body. She looked around in a panic, not remembering where she was. The small girl ran when she saw her sit up. Jenna's body was sore in places she didn't know could be sore, and she had trouble moving her stiff neck. She had slept on a bench, with out a blanket, in the middle of the night, in Brooklyn. Jenna was surprised to find that she hadn't been robbed, raped, and murdered whilst she slept. She checked her pockets and found that she still had all her money, so she got up and walked to the nearest clothing store: Anita's Fashions.  
"Well, good morning Jenna! My, you look terrible are you alright?" Jenna smiled up at the kindly old woman who ran the store.  
"Yes, Anita, I'm fine. I was wondering if you could sell me a boy's outfit. My cousin is coming to town and his birthday is coming up. He's 12 years old and about the same size as me. Nothing too nice, now, he's going to get it dirty." She felt terrible lying to this sweet woman who had probably never harmed another soul in her life, but it was the only way to get her some boy's clothes with being suspicious.  
"Yes I just got some new clothes in yesterday, if you want, you can try them on to make sure they fit." Anita walked out from behind the counter and went over to a rack filled with children's clothes. Her shaky old hands pulled out a less nice suit, and Jenna shook her head.  
"It's too nice, I'm looking for something like..." she paused and thought of what Spot had been wearing the day before. Checkered button up shirt, "a button up shirt..." brown knickers, "maybe brown knickers..." red suspenders, "suspenders, preferably brown, or black..." a grey hat, "a hat that matches the shirt." And long johns beneath it all, "and a some underclothes as well."  
Anita circled the rack pulling off the items one at a time. First the knickers, a dark brown that looked to be a little long, but good enough. Next a blue shirt about the color of the sky just after the sun has set. After that the long johns, they looked the right size. Then she walked to a different rack, grabbed a pair of brown suspenders, lighter than the pants and a blue hat that wasn't exactly the same, but was close enough to the shirt. Anita handed them all to Jenna and told her she could try them on in the back room. So she did.  
The pants were a little big, as she had suspected, but they were good enough and the shirt was baggy as well, but that was better, so her breasts wouldn't show as much. She pulled all her hair into the hat to make sure it would fit, and it did. The suspenders held up the pants, so she didn't have to worry about that and the long johns were just the right size. Jenna glanced down at her feet and realized she was wearing girl's shoes. So Jenna put her clothes back on and walked out to the front room.  
"I'll take it all. Oh, I just thought, a pair of shoes and socks would be good as well. And some hair pins for myself." She walked over to the rack next to the one holding suspenders and hats and grabbed a pair of shoes that might fit and some black socks. She brought everything up to the counter and had Anita ring it all up.  
"Well my dear, your total is $10.20." Jenna searched in her pockets and pulled out the money. She received her change, put the clothes in a canvas bag, and walked out the door.  
Jenna was giddy with anticipation as she walked to an alley where there didn't seem to be too many people. It was dark in the alleyway, but she didn't care. As soon as she reached the darkest place in the alleyway, she stopped and began to take off her clothes. She was down to her pantaloons, chemise, and corset, when she realized that the stiff corset wasn't going to fit in her bag. She removed her chemise from under the corset and took off her pantaloons as well. As soon as she had this done, she put the long johns on as quickly as possible. Over the underclothes, she put on her pants then the shirt and tucked it in. the pants began to slip, so she fumbled with the suspenders until they were on right. She rolled up the sleeves to her elbows and unbuttoned the top of the shirt. Next she took off her shoes and put on the black socks and shoes. Jenna pulled her long hair to the top of her head and put the hat on. She shoved all her clothes into the bag and pulled it shut. Jenna took some dirt off the ground and spread it allover her arms and face. She was certain she looked the part of a street rat.  
Jenna checked her pockets to see how much money she had. She had $1.80 left after her little shopping trip, enough for food, and she was starving.  
Jenna walked back into the street with her bag in hand and went out in search for a place to eat.  
Down the street was a small restaurant called Jake's Diner. She walked in and the place was filled with boys ranging from age 7 to maybe 16. In the middle of a big group of boys Jenna saw a familiar face. He was clearly telling an exciting story by the look on his face and all the boys surrounding him. 'Spot!' she started to walk towards him, but thought better of it, 'Oh god, he won't know who I am!' Jenna shook her head and went to buy food.  
"Hey!" Jenna turned and saw that Spot was talking to her, "Yeah you, come 'ere." Hesitantly, she began to walk to him. "You'se aint from around 'ere, you one o' Jack's?" when Jenna shook her head, he got up and walked up to her, "You'se look familiar, have we'se met on some previous occasion?" Again Jenna shook her head, no. "You'se a newsy?" once more she said no and he began to get impatient with her, "So wudda you'se do?"  
Jenna cleared her throat and tried to mimic his speech, "Well, I'se wants to be a newsy, if dat's alright wid you..." Spot smirked.  
"Do you'se got wud it takes to be a Brooklyn newsie?" When she shrugged, he pushed her down into an empty chair and sat down in front of her, "Can you'se fight." No, "Do you'se know how to use a sling shot?" no, "Do you'se know any ting, any ting at all, 'bout sellin' papes?" again, no. "Are you'se even a boy?" Jenna's eyes widened and this time she nodded, "How's ya gonna be a newsie if you don't know nunna dat?"  
"I could learn real quick." Spot nodded.  
"You'se got a week to learn. Den you'se can show me what you'se made of and I'se ill tell you wedda or not you'se newsie material. Deal?" They spit-shook on it, "you'se start tomorrow. Where you stayin'?"  
"Actually I don't have a place to stay" Spot sighed and shook his head.  
"I can't believe I'm doin' dis." He mumbled, "you'se can stay at da lodgin' 'ouse for da week, den if I'se decides dat you'se a newsie, den you'se can stay. If not, den you'se out on ya own. Lets go." Spot stood and walked out the door. Jenna and about half of the boys in the restaurant followed him.  
While they were making their way to the lodging house, Jenna was being introduced to the rest of the newsies.  
"I'm Smalls." The little boy, whom she had given her toast to the day before, spit on his hand and stuck it out for her to shake. She spit in her own hand and took his.  
"I'm um...." Jenna thought quickly but the only name she could think of was her little brother's "Jaron. Jaron Tavaleer." Jaron had caught scarlet fever when he was three and Jenna was five. She tried to forget about him, but it was so hard, he was so young.  
"I'se Socks," Said a very tall and muscular boy. He had short curly red hair and very dark brown eyes. He must have been about 6' 3" and looked like a giant compared to Jenna who was only 5' 4". Like Smalls, he spit on hi hand and they shook. Jenna wondered why he would be called Socks.  
"I'm called Dog." This boy looked to be about 14 with longish brown hair, deep blue eyes, and was maybe 5' 5" tall. His voice was harsh and sounded strangely like a dog's bark. They also spit shook.  
Within a few minutes, Jenna had met all the boys in the group and they were standing in front of the Brooklyn Newsboys Lodging House.  
"Well uh...what's ya name?" Spot looked at Jenna for an answer.  
"Jaron."  
"Well Jaron, dis would be our home sweet Lodging House. Welcome to your home for da next week of ya life. It's ten cents for da foist night, den five cents for each night afta dat, got it?" Jenna nodded and they walked in.  
After she had signed in with Terry, the man who ran their lodging house, they all walked up the stairs to the bunkroom. Spot stopped in the middle of the room and Jenna looked around, there didn't seem to be any empty bunks, but Jenna figured there was one somewhere.  
"You'se see dat door over dere?" Spot pointed to a door at the end of the 'hallway' between the bunks and Jenna nodded. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately. "Well, dat's where me bunk is. You'se are nevah, NEVAH, to go in dere widout me permission. Got it?" Again, she nodded. "Good. Now dat dat is all clear, den you'se gonna be sleeping..." He walked over towards the fire escape and the end of the row of bunks. "Aha! Here's one. You'se ill be sleeping above Socks 'ere. Dat's lucky for you cuz Socks is gonna be da one teachin' you'se ta fight." Socks stepped forward with a confused look on his face.  
"Now wait a sec Spot. I'se aint no teacher!" Spot glared at him.  
"Well you'se gonna become a teacher tomorrow." Socks sighed and stepped back.  
"Dat's what I thought. Dog is gonna be teachin you to sell." Dog didn't object as Socks had. "And uh... let's see. Gawd, you'se all suck at usin' slingshots." He said with a smile "I guess dat leaves me teachin you to use dat. Ok, now we'se all set. You know how to play poker?" Jenna said no and Spot gave her blank look. "We'se gonna hafta teach you dat too. Bucket, go get ya cards."  
And so began Jenna's new life. 


	3. AHHHHH

Hi, I seem to be having writers block for the third chapter and the exact opposite for every other chapter. So if anyone is reading this, thanks for waiting.  
  
Muah, SongBoid 


	4. Lessons

Warning: extremely boring chapter ahead (in my opinion). If ya want to skip and just wait for chappie 4, go ahead, there's nothing important going on here.... I don't think. Ahhhhh! Reviews! This is so exciting! And these review aren't from me, I feel so darn special! Any ways:  
  
Brooklyn's Miracle: Do you really like it? Oh and btw, I read your story, 'Headlines don't sell papes, Newsies sell papes" and I thought it was really funny.  
  
NaughteeLady: Thnx for saying its 'pretty good' (, now I feel special!  
  
Wisecracker88: ok, comic relief. Hmmm.... I guess I'm just real used to having to write serious stories for English. I'll try and work some comic relief into this chappie, k?  
  
Ducks-go-quack-00: I just had to say that I love your name!  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Newsies except for those who were not in the movie. Disney owns the Newsies and as much as I wish I owned them, I  
do not and I am not making any money off this.  
  
Lessons  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Wake up!" Jenna bolted upright in her bed when she heard Terry yelling in her ear. She was used to being woken up gently and this...this was just disturbing. Spot, who had been awake long before the other newsies, sauntered over to her bed. Jenna had gone to sleep with her cap on to hide her long hair and touched her head to be sure it was still there. She had subconsciously held her breath, but began breathing again when she felt that the hat was still there and her hair was still hidden.  
"You'se ready for ya foist day of lessons?" Spot was standing by her bed and she realized then that for being sixteen years old, he was rather short, only about 5' 8".  
Jenna had taken off her corset the night before and decided that she would get rid of it the next day. She had gone to bed in only her underwear, and it was kind of easy to tell that she was female, if one was looking in that area. She crossed her arms and looked down at Spot who was looking at her eyes and not her chest (AN: I can't believe it! Spot actually looking a girl in the EYES!).  
"I think." Jenna made sure to keep her voice a bit lower than normal. Spot laughed turned to walk away.  
"You'se betta get dressed, Dogs already ready and he's waitin' outside, you'se learnin' to sell foist. Afta dat, you'se gonna fight, then woik on ya sling shootin'" Jenna nodded her understanding and went to get dressed.  
She had been given a drawer to keep her clothes in. She hopped of her bed, opened the drawer, took out her clothes and began to get dressed for the day.  
The night before, Jenna had learned to play poker. It seemed to be a favorite game of the newsies. It only took her a few minutes to learn because Spot, who claimed he was the best poker player in Brooklyn, had helped her. Of course, just to be mean, during the first hand he told her that she was sure to win because almost nothing beat what she had (a pair of fours). So she put in twenty cents and played her hand. Of course she lost, but the experience taught her not to trust Spot too much. In the middle of the game, Flash turned to Spot and asked him what Jenna considered to be a strange question.  
"So Spot, why didn't ya bring home a goil tonight?" someone on the other side of the table snickered.  
"If you'se hadn't noticed, it ain't technically toNIGHT yet. I've also been kind of busy with," He turned to Jenna, "What's ya name again?"  
"Jaron." He looked back to Flash  
"Jaron. And when did it become your business whether or not I'se bring home a goil?" apparently, Spot didn't like people getting into his personal business. Flash looked surprised at his reaction.  
"I didn't mean nuthin by it. I was jist wonderin'" The rest of the conversation was about how Spot was a total ladies-man.  
"Spot heah has almost every goil in New Yawk aftah him."  
"Almost? Ha, there ain't no almost. I'se got EVERY goil in New Yawk." He shrugged suddenly 'modest' "I dunno what it is, they jist go crazy ovah me." Someone to his left smacked him on the back in an encouraging manner. Every one laughed and they continued the poker game. Hours later, they all went to bed.  
Jenna had all her clothes on and was waiting outside the washroom when Dog walked out, furious with his face and hair all wet.  
"Spot said you was waitin' outside!" Jenna told the wet Dog.  
"I was, but you'se was taking so long dat I came up here, walked into the washroom and into a watah fight." He began walking away mumbling to himself, "I'se ill KILL Smalls!"  
When Jenna was done in the washroom, she went outside to see the still angry Dog waiting with a stack of papers. There seemed to be about 150 papers sitting on the ground next to him.  
"Are we supposed to sell ALL of those?" Jenna asked in disbelief. Dog nodded and handed her a handful of them.  
"Let's go." Dog began to walk away and Jenna followed close behind. The street was swarming with people of all kinds, some beggars, some of those highfalutin snobs that Jenna used to live with, and some bulls just for good measure. Bobbing above the rest of the heads, Jenna spotted a familiar hat. Jenna was surprised that Maria's new purple hat hadn't already been thrown in the back of her closet for a bigger and prettier one; after all it had been an entire week since she had bought it.  
"Oh no!" Jenna turned and ducked behind Dog, who turned towards her with a confused look on his face.  
"What's wrong wid you?"  
"It's me sistah!" Jenna peeked out now and Maria was walking down the street giving disgusted looks in the direction of every street rat in view. She also seemed to be looking for someone and Jenna assumed she was looking for her.  
"You'se a run away?" Jenna nodded and Dog blocked her view of Maria, but she knew that she was probably glaring at Dog by then. "I understand why you'se ran away jist by lookin' at her! She's gone now, let's get movin'."  
Jenna stood up straight and listened to what Dog had to say.  
"You'se know how to read, right?" Jenna nodded, "Good. See dis headline? 'Family Soiches for Missing Daughter'?" Jenna's heart caught in her throat, they were looking for her. Her picture was right below the headline, but she didn't say anything about it. "It's a good headline, but da people won't care as much unless it affects them. Can you think of anything to spice up da story?" Jenna grabbed the paper from his hand.  
"Young goil kidnapped! Are your kids next?" she yelled. Immediately, two women came up to her and bought papers.  
"Dat's pretty good! But hows about we jist kill dis pretty little goil?" he raised a paper above his head and shouted, "Authorities suspect serial killah in da case of a missin' goil! Watch out for ya children!" just as quickly as before, four women, two of which had children with them came up and bought papers.  
Jenna took fifty of the papers and began to sell, while Dog sold the rest. Three hours passed and Jenna was on her last few papers. She was about to yell out a headline when Dog stopped her.  
"At dis point, if you'se evah havin' trouble sellin' ya last papes, den do dis." Jenna set down her few papers and Dog did as well. He then took a handful of dirt and wiped it on his cheeks. His eyes filled with tears and some fell down his cheeks leaving clean trails where the water had washed away the dirt. Dog grabbed a paper, walked up to a lady walking down the street and pulled on her skirt. She looked at him with angry eyes.  
"What do you want?"  
Dog looked up at her with tears in his eyes and held out the one paper. "Please miss, buy me last paper. I only need a little more money for me sistah's medication." The woman's eyes turned sympathetic.  
"Oh, well if you need the money for medication..." she pulled out a penny and handed it to him in exchange for his 'last' paper.  
"Thank you miss!" Dog ran back to where Jenna stood clapping and bowed.  
Both Jenna and Dog finished selling their papers and headed over to Jake's Diner for lunch. When they got there, Spot and a few other newsies were already there sitting and laughing with a few girls that Jenna didn't recognize.  
"Jaron, right?" Spot seemed to be having a lot of trouble with Jenna's name.  
"Yeah." She answered.  
"I'm assumin' you'se got money for food?" when she nodded he turned to Dog, "How'd you'se two sell?"  
Jenna sat with the boys for a few hours talking like they had been friends forever. Over time, more newsies walked in and joined the conversation. Jenna learned a lot about everyone during that time, and everyone learned a lot about her, or who she was pretending to be.  
"Socks! It's time for you two to go." Socks stood up and motioned for Jenna to go with him, she assumed it was for her next lessons: fighting.  
While they walked, Socks told Jenna where they were going and why. They were headed for a section of the docks that was supposedly closed, but the newsies still went there occasionally. It was an open area where they could be left alone. Jenna knew they were there when they came to a high gate. Socks began to climb and Jenna followed. Once over the gate, they began immediately. "Ok den. Da foist thing we should do is see what you already know. I want you'se to jump me." Jenna looked at him like he was nuts. "Jist do it!" She took a deep breath and stepped forward. Socks took a fighting stance and Jenna mimicked it.  
'What was I thinking? I don't wanna do dis! I'm not cut out to be a newsie! Oh god, oh god!' Jenna stepped forward one more time and thought 'Ok, what do I know 'bout fightin'? I'se watched boxing matches before. Let's see...'  
And she swung. It wasn't very good, and Socks avoided it easily.  
"Dat's a good start. But what you'se need to do is put more energy into it." Socks went around to her backside and took her hands. "Ball ya hands inta fists. Not dat tight, jist a little loosa, good. When you'se swing it needs strength, you'se looked like a goil when you'se did dat." Jenna tensed. Socks felt it and laughed, "I ain't callin' you a goil, calm down." When she relaxed, they continued. Two hours later, Jenna had left hook, right hook, fakes and blocks all down pat.  
"Now, lets see if you'se got it. Make like you'se gonna hit me." This time Jenna didn't hesitate to step forward. She thought about all she had learned in the past two hours and took a fighting stance. Jenna faked a left punch and Socks skillfully sidestepped to the right only to be caught with a right hook on his cheekbone. Socks was knocked onto his butt and he had his hand to his face. "You'se have one hell of a hook!" he winced, "I think we'se done enough for today." Jenna nodded and walked over to help him up. There was still few hours until the sun would set, leaving time for her first slingshot lesson.  
They walked off the docks towards the Lodging house and ran into Smalls.  
"Spot's lookin' for you, Jaron. He's comin' down 'ere for you. 'Ey Socks, what 'appened to you'se face?" He put his hand up to his cheek where a purple and brown bruise was already forming. He looked slightly uncomfortable with the question.  
"Well, Hook here," he jabbed his thumb towards Jenna, "Has quite a right hook." He mumbled.  
As if on cue, Spot walked out of the shadows and laughed.  
"That's a nice bruise there Socks. You'se supposed to be this great fighta and he ain't nevah fought before, how'd it happen? Naw don't tell me, we'se gotta go and work on Hook's slingshot skills." He began to walk away and Jenna realized that she was Hook. Socks had referred to her as Hook before and now Spot, so that made it her new name.  
Hook ran to catch up with Spot, who was now walking into the lodging house. They walked together without talking until they reached the bunkroom.  
"Climb out the fire escape and wait for me on the roof, I'se gotta get you a slingshot." Hook obliged.  
When she got up to the roof, she looked around and saw a pile of bottles about five feet away. Also, on the ledge of the roof sat the bottoms of broken bottles and one whole one. She assumed that the bottles were used for practice.  
"Hook!" she turned and barely reached up in time to catch the wooden slingshot the Spot had thrown to her. "Nice catch." Spot's light brown hair was shining in the sunlight. His blue-grey eyes pierced her own dark blue ones and she had to look away, afraid that he might be able to read her thoughts if she continued to make eye-contact. Her stomach was tying itself in knots at the mere sight of him. 'No, Jen- Hook. Hook. You can't do dis. You cant like him. He thinks you're a boy, and you might at strange 'round him if ya like him. Get over it!' He trotted over to wear she stood, took a marble from his pocket, loaded his slingshot, aimed and shot the marble. She gaped at his grace while doing this, as he had seemed to do it in one flowing motion and had barely taken any time to aim. Hook jumped when she heard the glass bottle shatter behind her. Spot handed her a marble and replaced the one he had just hit. "You try." She fumbled to put the marble in the pocket, closed her right eye, and took her sweet time aiming. She pulled back on the slingshot and released. It would have been a good shot had it been about five feet lower, and three feet to the right.  
"Damnit." She mumbled. She looked to Spot for another marble to try again. He shook his head and began to explain the art of using a slingshot.  
"Foist of all, you wanna keep both eyes open, it makes for betta aimin'. Second, you'se shakin' like crazy. Relax." Hook looked down and noticed that she was indeed shaking. Spot seemed to have that effect on girls; even the ones dressing and acting like a boy. Hook closed her eyes and concentrated on calming down. The shaking slowed to a near stop and the butterflies in her stomach ceased flying. She opened her eyes and Spot was standing just to her left holding out a marble to her. Again her stomach tightened, but she kept breathing steadily and it stayed a small knot.  
Hook loaded the slingshot and aimed. She wasn't shaking as much and she remembered to keep both eyes open. She released the marble and nearly hit the brown bottle.  
"Better." Hook had forgotten that she wasn't alone and she turned to see Spot standing there with a handful of marbles. He walked up to her and handed them over. "you'se should take ya hat off, it'll be easiah to see." Spot reached for the hat and Hook jerked away nearly losing her marbles.  
"Um...I prefer to have it on." Spot gave her a funny look and stepped back.  
"Whatever. Keep shootin' and when you'se finally hit, get anudda bottle." He turned and walked behind her.  
"Wait!" Hook stopped at that and took the time to fix her voice so she didn't sound like a girl, "Are you'se jist gonna leave me 'ere?"  
"Course I aint jist gonna leave ya 'ere! But you'se seem to do bettah when I aint 'ere so was jist gonna sit behind ya, if dat's alright wid you."  
"I guess dat's alright..." Hook turned back towards the bottle and aimed.  
About ten minutes later, while Hook was aiming at the bottle she felt gentle hands grasping her elbow. She jumped at the touch and looked to see Spot straightening her arm.  
"It was makin' me go off me trolley. You'se gotta keep the arm that's holdin' the slingshot straight when you'se shoot." Hook nodded her acknowledgement. She began shaking again his touch and tried to relax. 'He touched me. Oh gawd, calm down Hook! He's jist a boy. Jist. A. Boy. Plus even if he knew you was a goil the relationship that prolly wouldn't happen would only be one night long.' Hook regained her concentration after a moment and aimed for maybe the hundredth time.  
The little marble flew through the air and hit the bottle. The brown glass looked as though it had exploded.  
"I did it!" Hook whipped around to face Spot who was clapping and laughing.  
"Alright, we'se done enough tonight, it's time for dinnah and I'se stahved." He began to walk back to the fire escape and Hook followed, still excited about having hit the bottle. 


	5. A New Friend

Ok, I have no life! You want proof? The most exciting thing that happened today was finding out that I had more reviews! Lol, oh well...Does anyone think that I should change Spot's name when I'm done and turn it in as writing for my English class? My teacher would think I'm a psycho for writing about Newsies!  
  
Wisecracker88- I hate to give up on my Spot, but I guess I can settle for having Race, Blink or Jack...unless they're taken....and I'm afraid that this isnt gonna be too much of a 'comic' story... it's a drama, of course there will be lighter moments, but if funny and light-hearted is what you want, then this aint the story for you.  
  
NaughteeLady- you're right, it is special that you feel special because I feel special because you think my story is good.  
  
Moon- Wow. I guess I'm a better writer than I thought! Don't worry your not annoying, I loved your review! Btw, you have to finish "Danger Embedded with Truth"!!  
  
Stacey- Danke for the review!  
  
I added a new character and this starts out with her POV, so don't go getting all confused on me, it'll all work out.  
  
A New Friend  
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Slick's POV ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
I'd never gotten caught before. I'd been doing it for almost a year, and no one ever even suspected me. I should have known that if I kept stealing I would get caught. Jack warned me... (End POV)  
  
Slick ran down the street dodging women and children and occasionally carts. She glanced back, her short black hair partially blocking her view, and saw that that damn cop was still hot on her trail. Every instinct in her told her to run, and she was trying, but she was running out of breath and she didn't exactly know where she was going. She took a deep breath and put on an extra burst of speed. Again she looked back, she was losing the cop now, he seemed to be out of breath to, and not in as good of shape as Slick. She rounded one last corner and saw Tibby's looming in the distance. 'I can make it.' She thought, 'Almost there!' Slick skidded to a halt and walked into the diner as calmly as possible so as not to attract any extra attention. Just as she had thought, most of the Manhattan newsboys were already there eating food and waiting for the second edition of the paper to come out for the day.  
  
"Jack!" Slick called out to him in a stage-whisper.  
  
The boy she was calling to had sandy brown hair and hazel eyes. He was tall and skinny with a red bandana tied around his neck and a cowboy hat hanging on his back. A smile formed on his face, but soon disapeared when he saw the desperate look on Slick's face.  
  
"What's up Slick?" She quickly walked over to where he sat and told him what happened.  
  
"Well, I know you'se told me I shouldn't steal but I saw dis real nice uh... pair of suspenders and so I jist grabbed 'em and I got caught. Jack you gotta help me, the bulls were right behind me!" Jack glanced up to the door and sure enough a cop was walking in, looking around. He jumped over the table and stood between the cop and Slick, blocking his view.  
  
"Follow my lead." He mouthed. He put his hat on her head and pulled her real close. As they walked towards the door, he put his mouth to hers and began to kiss her, completely blocking any view of her face the policeman might have had. They continued walking as they kissed and soon got out the door. Jack pulled Slick into the alley.  
  
"Does he know you'se a newsie?" he asked.  
  
Slick nodded, "I sold him a pape about five minutes 'afore I, ya know, took the nec- uh...suspenders."  
  
"I know you'se didn't steal suspenders, Slick, but I am gonna take you to da Brooklyn Lodgin' 'ouse for da week 'till dis clears up."  
  
Again Slick nodded and folloed him out of the alley with his cap pulled over her face, casting it into shadow. Her jade green eyes darted back and forth, watching for any sign of the bulls as Jack held her hand and pulled her through the streets.  
  
They reached the Brooklyn bridge in no time, for they were practically running, and suddenly Jack stopped. He turned to Slick who wore a surprised look on her face.  
  
"I know you didn't take suspenders, you wouldn't be so worried if dat's all it was. What did you REALLY take?" Slick shoved her hand in her pocket and her feet became the center of her attention as she pulled out a solid silver necklace. "Gawd, Slick! Are you off ya trolley?? You woulda got a year or two for takin' dat! I cant believe you!" She started to put it back in her pocket, but Jack stopped her. "Are you'se gonna keep it?"  
  
Slick looked at him like he was crazy, "Of course I'm keepin' it! If I return it, I'll get turned over to da bulls!" Jack nodded and kept walking. It was starting to get dark so they quickened their pace, it wasn't smart to be caught on the streets of Brooklyn after dark. Soon enough, the bright light of the Brooklyn Newsboys Lodging House came into view.  
  
"Evenin' Jack, what can I do for you and your friend?" Terry was sitting behind the desk reading a paper, but looked up when they entered the building.  
  
"Spot around?" Terry pointed up the stairs to where the bunk room was. They walked up the stairs and heard the familiar chatter of any newsboys bunkroom after the day was done. Jack opened the door and everyone dropped silent and looked in their direction. They were hit by a chorus of  
  
"Jack!" and "Heya Cowboy!" and "Woo, who's the girl?"'s.  
  
"Where's Spot?" He demanded over the noise. Spot stood up from the poker game he was in the middle of.  
  
"I'm right here. Heya jackey-boy, how's it rollin'?" Spot sauntered over and they spit-shook.  
  
"Slick heah," he pointed to her and she shot Spot a smile, which he responded to with a suggestive grin, "needs a place to stay for, maybe a week. She's in a little trouble wid da bulls back home."  
  
"Shoah ting, Jackey-boy. Both a you'se can stay as long as ya like."  
  
"Nah, I'se only stayin' for da night, I'm outta heah tomorrow mornin'." Spot nodded his acknowledgement and headed back to his poker game.  
  
Slick and Jack searched the room and found an empty bunk, Jack ended up doubling with Dog. Slick lied down on her bed and stuck her hand in her pocket. As she played with the necklace a shiver of excitement ran down her spine.  
  
Normally, she only took food, or little things like that, but this necklace had called to her. There had been three on the small wooden rack and she picked up two. She studied it and sighed, pretending she wished she had the money to buy it. She replaced one necklace and crumpled the other in her fist. Then she began to amble away, shoving the necklace into her pocket. She stopped dead when she heard the woman's voice.  
  
"Theif! You took my necklace! She took it!" that's when the cop had come after her and she took off running blindly down the street.  
  
"So what'd you'se do?" The voice startled Slick into jumping. She looked up into the face of Hook who was standing above her looking down. She sat up and swung her feet over the edge onto the floor. Jack slid onto the bed next to her.  
  
"Aw, Slick's jist a little thief. Dat's why we call her Slick."  
  
"What'd you'se steal?" Hook asked curiously. Slick took her hand out of her pocket along with the necklace. A few of the boys had gathered aound them by this point and they all gasped. Hook reached forward and took it into her own hands. She recognized it as the style of a necklace she had left back home. "Hey! I got one like dis-"she paused and looked around at the puzzled faces of the boys around her, "for me muddah's birthday a couple a years ago..." they nodded, understanding now.  
  
Hook had decided earlier that day that she was going to bathe that night, once everyone had gone to sleep. Over the next few hours a few of the younger boys went to bed, but when Terry came up and said 'Lights out!' everyone went to bed. Spot, Jack, Hook, Dog and Slick were the last one's to go to bed.  
  
"G'night Slick." Spot winked at her and turned to go to his private bunk.  
  
"Night Spot." She answered, smiling.  
  
They were in their beds when Jack turned on his side to face Slick's bunk.  
  
"So, Slick, Whaddaya tink of Spot?" he asked teasingly.  
  
"He's a cutie." She said with a slight giggle, "G'night Jack."  
  
"Yeah, shoah, g'night" he grunted in response.  
  
As soon as Hook was sure everyone was sleeping soundly, she sat up and snuck to the washroom. She knew she would have to bathe in slightly dirty water, but any bath was a good bath. She took off her hat first, it felt good to let her hair fall around her shoulders again. Since she was only wearing her underwear, she didn't have much to take off. She began unbuttoning her underwear, when the door to the washroom opened. Hook, with her shirt partially unbuttoned, looked up at her intruder, eyes wide, filled with horror. She relaxed a little when she saw who it was, but only a little.  
  
"Uh...I'm sorry, was I uh...intruding?" Slick stared, just as surprised as Hook. "I didn't realize that-" Hook put her finger to her lips.  
  
"Shhh! They don't know!" Slick nodded knowingly.  
  
"I guess we all have our little secrets. Don't worry, I'll keep yours. Hook right?" She nodded. "Well g'night Hook" Slick laughed a little, "Happy bathing." She left the washroom and Hook's heart stopped pounding. She was safe. She had been caught, but she was safe.  
  
She took her bath, undisturbed, and went back to bed, not fully clean, but cleaner than before.  
  
"Up! Everyone up! The presses are rolling and the people want their news!" No one sat up, except Hook. Hook touched her head and found she didn't have her cap. She anxiously looked around her bed, but didn't find it. Hook tossed a glance over the side of her bed and saw it lieing on the floor by Socks bed. The boys were beginning to stir now and she was beginning to panic. She jumped down off her bed, grabbed the cap and ran to the washroom as fast as she could. She slammed the door behind her and began to stuff her hair up into her hat, afraid that someone would come in. Some one did.  
  
"Lemme help." Slick took the hat from Hook's hands and began to calmly pull her hair into a bun. She held it htere and slid the cap over her head just as the door opened again. This time Spot walked in looking great (very tired and with messy hair, but great nonetheless).  
  
"Hey Hook, think you'se ready to sell widdout Dog?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Good. You'se can sell wid Slick today." Hook glanced at her, she didn't seem to object.  
  
"You'se wanna sell wid me today, Slick?" She asked, even though they had no choice.  
  
"Shoah." She answered with a smile.  
  
They both got dressed and went to the distribution office for their papes. (AN: unfortunately, there's no hot guys singing and dancing when they wake up in this story.)  
  
Hook pulled out a quarter and Slick stopped walking. She grabbed Hook's arm and held out another quarter to her.  
  
"Buy me fifty please, I'se gotta go say bye to Jack." Hook took the quarter.  
  
"Shoah ting." Slick ran off and left Hook to her thoughts.  
  
She was really looking forward to her lessons today. Especially the ones with Spot. She didn't understand why everyone thought he was such a womanizer. Hook hadnt seen him with one girl since she had been there and he wasn't hitting on her at all. 'Could that be because he thinks I'm a BOY? I still can't believe I actually like him! I mean, he is good looking, and charming, and nice and-' Hook's thoughts were interuppted by Spot and Slick walking up, arms entwined and staring at eachother. Her jaw dropped.  
  
"I know!" Socks' voice came from behind her, "I don't understand how he gets all dose pretty goils! What's so great about him? Didn't get your hopes up, did you? Ya shoulda known Spot would get her first." Socks thought she wanted Slick, not Spot! She supposed it was all for the best. 'What's so great about him?' she thought in response to Socks' question, 'Nuthin anymore. Except for the fact that he's good looking, and charming and nice and...' 


	6. Going 'Home'

Stacey- All in good time! Patience is a virtue! And I know exactly what you mean about Spot!  
  
Going 'Home'  
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Hook's morning had started out with panic and ended in jealousy. Seeing Slick and Spot togther like that had really wrenched her heart. She should have known this would happen, she had heard from EVERYONE the Spot was a total ladies man. Slick was good-looking and clearly enomored by Spot, so why shouldn't they get together?  
  
'Maybe it's time to tell them I'se a girl. No! That's crazy! If I wants to be respected, they hafta think I'se a guy. That's all there is to it.'  
  
"You ok?" Slick came up behind her, startling her. "You'se looked all thoughtful, I hope I wasn't interuptin' nuthin." She continued with a smile.  
  
Hook forced a smile that she hoped looked genuine. "Nah, heah's ya quartah, I'se didn't quite get up to do window yet." She tossed her the quarter and faced the distribution window. Slick opened her mouth to say something else, but thought better of it. Within the next moment, Hook's turn had come and she handed over her quarter.  
  
"Fifty papes." She said, and the man called back to the workers.  
  
"Fifty papes!" Hook received her papers and waited as Slick got hers, then together they began to walk. Hook tried to reason with herself that there was no reason to be mad at Slick, after all; how was she supposed to know about Hook liking Spot?  
  
"So are you'se Spot's new goil?" Hook asked Slick.  
  
"Uh... yeah." Slick didn't seem like the type to blush, but she did.  
  
Hook simply looked at her top paper"Young girl's body still not found, canibalism suspected!" news had been slow, and her picture was still on the front page of the newspaper. The real headline said, "Have you seen this girl?" Hook's version of the story seemed to sell better, because as soon as she was done yelling, a group of people came up to her and began buying papers.  
  
"Hey! Hook, look at me for a sec and smile." Slick called to Hook and she obliged. "Now tilt you'se head a little. No, the other way." She then lifted up the paper and held it next to Hook's face. She studied both the picture and Hook for a moment. "It's you!" She proclaimed, "Somebody wants you'se back real bad Hook. We had a story about you in our paper back home. I'm guessing you'se a runaway, am I right?"  
  
"Yeah, and I'm not going back."  
  
"Was it dat bad?" Slick sat down on the curb, forgetting about selling her papers.  
  
"Not really, I'se guess I jist got tired of the 'I'se bettah than all of you'se.' attitude that my family and all our 'friends' had. One night I came home late from a walk and they were all mad, so I left."  
  
"At least you'se got a family." Slick mumbled.  
  
"What happened to yours?" Hook, tilted her head as she had a habit of doing when asking a question.  
  
"They jist up and left. I was playing at me friend's 'ouse and when I got home they were gone. No note, no nothing. They took almost everything wid 'em too. I slept on the floor in front of the door for maybe 5 days before I realized they weren't coming back. The next day I ran into an older boy and he took me to the lodgin' 'ouse. And that's the story of my life." Slick was almost crying now and Hook leaned in to hug her.  
  
"Hey, it's ok. Don't cry!" Slick was crying into Hook's shoulder now, and neither of them saw Spot walking up looking very angry.  
  
"Hey!" They both glanced up and realized what it must look like, with Hook seeming to be a boy. Spot grabbed Hook's collar and pulled her to her feet. She was trembling now and just knew that Spot was gonna soak her.  
  
"Spot!" Slick pulled his arm but he pushed her away.  
  
"Since when did it become ok for you'se to be touchin' me goil? Eh?"  
  
Spot took his hand off her shirt, grabbed her arm and began pulling her towards the nearest empty alley. Slick followed close behind trying to keep Spot from hurting Hook. They were maybe two feet into the alley when Spot shoved Hook up against the wall.  
  
She didn't think. She just reacted and hit him. He was knocked over and when he looked up at her terrified face, he had a drop of blood coming out of the corner of his mouth. He stood up and went to hit her but stopped when he heard Slick yell:  
  
"Don't hit her!" He faced Slick and she put her hand up to her mouth. "Him." She tried to correct herself, "I meant him" Spot didn't listen. He walked over to Hook who was still trembling like crazy and pulled off her hat. Her reddish hair fell in cascades around her shoulders.  
  
"You'se a goil?!" he cried, completely forgetting why he had been trying to soak her only moments ago. Hook nodded, a little calmer than before, now that it looked as though he wasn't going to hit her. "You'se been a goil dis whole time?" Spot asked stupidly.  
  
"No Spot, I only jist turned into a goil when you'se took off my hat." Again, she didn't think and Spot made a move to hit her, but caught himself.  
  
"You'se look familiar." He said and pulled her out of the alley into the light. "Where have I'se seen ya before?" he asked  
  
"Jenna?!" Hook's bright blue eyes widened at the familiar voice. Her mother looked almost exactly as she had when Hook left, angry eyes and all. "What. Are. You. Doing. Here?" She accented each word as she glided over to where Hook, Spot and Slick stood. "Where. Have. You. Been? You. Father. Sister. And. I. Have. Been. Worried. SICK!" Her voice changed from angry to slightly whiny, "Come home!" she took her arm, to Hook's surprise. She would actually touch someone in streetrat's clothes.  
  
"No!" She surprised herself by yelling and yanked her arm away, "I- I don't want to go with you."  
  
"What are you talking about? I know how you feel, sweetie! You were angry at us for rightly punishing you and now you're embarassed for going to such extreme meaures." Her white-gloved hand reached out to tke her arm again, but Hook stepped back, anger filling her eyes.  
  
"Obviously you don't understand! That's not why I left! I left because I was sick of the way you acted, I was sick of out lifestyle...I was sick of you." She was yelling now and people were starting to look over in their direction. Her mother tried to avoid having attention drawn to them by speaking a tad bit quieter than her daughter.  
  
"Don't be silly, sweetie! Just come with me and we can go home and get you some...acceptable clothing." She stepped forward and reached out yet again. This time Hook didn't step back. Her mother enfolded her in a hug and began to walk away, her hand wrapped firmly around Hook's wrist, this time she wasn't getting away.  
  
As they walked, she spoke to her daughter quietly so that only she could hear.  
  
"You are the most selfish ignorant brat I have ever layed my eyes upon! You will not run away again. If there is a next time, when we get you back, which we will, you will not be allowed out of our sight." Her grip tightened and Hook looked back at Spot and Slick who looked just as surprised as her. "Do you hear me?" Hook nodded, or rather, JENNA nodded.  
  
Spot's POV ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
'Did dat jist happen? I'se can't believe her muddah jist came up and took her. Can she do dat? Who is she? Where 'ave I seen 'er before? In da papers! No, before that...before...before. Boid? Was that Boid?'  
  
"We can't let jist let 'er take 'er!" Slick's voice interupted my thoughts.  
  
I nodded, "You'se right. But we can't jist go to 'er 'ouse and take 'er back. We needs a plan..."  
  
(End POV)  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Sorry bout the shortliness of that chappie, it just seemed like it should end there, you agree? I would love reviews, but don't worry, even if there are no reviews I'll keep writing! 


	7. Attempted Escape

Ack! I'm overwhelmed with reviews! I kepp forgetting my disclaimer so this is it for the rest of the story:  
  
Disclaimer: As much as I wish I was, I am not the owner of Newies. Disney owns Newsies (except the ones that were NOT in the movie). But if Disney EVER decides that they don't want Newsies anymore...well, I'm sure they know where to find me, Disney knows EVERYTHING.  
  
FigmentFreak: Danke for the review!  
  
Moon: I'm sure your new story will be good, but remember that if Danger isnt updated soon, I'll cry!  
  
m-e lee12: yeah, my writing prgram is set so that it changes some words and it kept changing newsie to newsy, I thought I changed them all back but I guess I missed a few. Jenna isn't faking the accent, her character is based partially on me and I have a tendancy to pick up accents really quickly, like when I watched Newsies for the second time, I started talking in the New York accent, but I caught myself and stopped.  
  
Moon (again): succeEd  
  
FigmentFreak (again): I'm glad you like it!  
  
Attempted Escape  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
People stared as the woman who was so obviously rich and of high stature dragged the little streetrat girl around by her wrist. She was in a hurry, and didn't bother with "Pardon me" or even "MOVE!", she just shoved right past the crowds, pushing a person or two down onto the ground without apologizing. Before she knew it, Jenna was being pulled through the door of her old home, where she was greeted less than warmly by her sister, who had grown more like their mother in Jenna's absence.  
  
"You've found her! What is she wearing? It looks as though she hasn't bathed in weeks! And her hair, when was the last time she brushed it?" Maria followed her mother while she dragged Jenna up the stairs and into the washroom. She proceeded to strip Jenna of her clothes while their mother filled the washtub with water.  
  
She shooed Maria out of the room and dumped Jenna into the washtub where she began to scrub her skin raw.  
  
"I wash meself, I don't need you'se to do it!" But this didn't help, it only made her scrub harder. Soon Jenna's skin was searing with pain and had turned red. When this happened, the woman dunked her daughter's head under the water and washed her hair with just as much force.  
  
"Maria!" Her mother screamed. Maria hesitantly poked her head through the door. "Get Jenna a suitable dress for a dinner party and then go inform all of our neighbors that they are cordially invited to a welcoming Jenna home dinner. NOW." Maria scurried to obey and brought back a powder blue dress covered in frills.  
  
"I aint wearin' that!" Jenna had grown bolder in her few days with the Brooklyn newsies and she openly defied her mother.  
  
"When did 'aint' become part of your vocabulary? The proper thing to say would be aren't wearING that, and yes you are wearing this. Now put it on!" She roughly handed her the dress and stormed out of the room, leaving Jenna alone.  
  
"Fine," She mumbled, "I'll put on ya lousy dress, but I AINT stayin' here for longer than I hafta."  
  
"Ladies and gentleman, thankyou for coming tonight. I had our cook prepare a special dinner for you all to welcome back my youngest daughter Jenna! And here she is!" Jenna walked into the room looking very uncomfortable in the fancy dress. She had her hair pinned into a fancy bun and would have looked lovely if not for the scowl on her face. Jenna took her seat on her Father's left hand side, right by her Mother, who would be sure she behaved.  
  
The first course came and the people around the table began to chatter, occasionally asking Jenna questions that she refused to answer, such as: "Aren't you glad to be home Jenna?" or "Didn't you miss your family?". By the time the third course rolled around, everyone had given up on talking to Jenna and held conversations amongst themselves.  
  
The dinner ended three hours later, but to Jenna it seemed like days. She had only been away from them for less than a day, but already she missed Spot, Slick and the rest of the newsies.  
  
Spot and Slick. She felt a pang in her stomach when she thought of them. She missed Spot's egotistical attitude and the way he lost poker games 'on purpose' so that he wouldn't take everyone's money. She missed the way he took care of Smalls and tried to keep him from getting into any serious trouble. She missed the slingshot lessons on the roof. And Slick, she had only known her for a day, but she was the first person to learn she was a girl and she had done her best to keep the secret.  
  
But Jenna was stuck with her biological family now, and she didn't doubt that her mother would hold to the threat she had given earlier. She didn't doubt it one bit, but that didn't mean she was just going to stay there, she was going try and leave again.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (AN: When she's with her mother and sister she'll be known as Jenna, but with the newsies she Hook., k?)  
  
Spot made Slick sell the rest of her papers as well as Hook's and then meet him at Jake's Diner where they would try and form a plan to get Hook out of there.  
  
"We gotta find out where she lives." Slick was the first to speak.  
  
"I know where she lives." Spot answered and Slick gave him a questioning look. "She got lost on the Brooklyn Bridge and I'se 'ad to walk 'er 'ome." He said, laughing at the memory. "I called 'er Bird then, cuz she sings like one." He caught himself and stopped talking, it would sound to Slick as though he liked Hook as more then a friend.  
  
'Maybe I do.' He thought, 'Naw, I can't! I barely know 'er! Dis don't matter right now, I should be thinkin' 'bout how to get 'er back.'  
  
Slick had similar thoughts, 'Could he possibly like 'er?I'm supposed to be 'is goil. Argh, why am I'se bein' so selfish, I should be concentrating on getting 'er back heah.'  
  
Spot had made sure that none of the other boys knew that Hook was a girl, if, no, WHEN, she got back, she would probably want to tell them herself. He had also made it clear that he and Slick were not to be disturbed while they thought.  
  
"This is jist too complicated!" Slick stated, almost ready to give up. But Slick's negative attitude didn't affect Spot, he was determined to get Hook back. If not because she was his friend, then because everyone should have a say as to where and how they lived their life.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Well that didn't go as well as I had hoped." Jenna's mother huffed, "You could have at least made an effort to SEEM human!" she began to get angry and yell. "You didn't talk to one person through the entire dinner with the exception of when you asked Mrs. Brinderwell to 'Pass da rolls.' and even that seemed un-civilized!" She shook her head with exasperation. "What happened to you?" She left Jenna standing by the window in her room, alone.  
  
'I can get out!' she realized, the accent she had picked up on the streets beginning to fade. Jenna opened the window and began to climb out just as she had only four days earlier.  
  
"How did I know you would try that? Do you take me for a complete moron? Did you think I would really just leave you completely alone with a window through which you could leave?" It seemed as though her mother hadn't really left he ralone, had merely stood outside the door, waiting for Jenna to try something.  
  
She called Jenna's father into the room and he entered with nails and a hammer. When he began to nail shut the window, Jenna's heart fell momentarily. 'I can still escape through the front door!' But her hopes were dashed yet again when her parents left, shutting and locking Jenna's bedroom door.  
  
And so she gave up. Her mother had always won in the past, why should it change now? Jenna changed into her night gown and fell onto her bed, tears filling her eyes.  
  
'Maybe this life won't be so bad. Maybe I could just forget about Spot and Socks and Dog and Slick and Smalls.' Streams of salt water fell down her face now, 'I'm stuck here aren't I?'  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Woo, that was a real short chappie. Just thought I would let you guys know that I probably wont be able to update daily since im going back to school in two days, *tear, tear*. Survey time : Who thinks that Spot and Hook should end up together? 


	8. Feelings? Nah!

Omg, I am so sorry I haven't written since like Saturday!! I've been busy with stupid school and have been writers blocking major. Ok, here's the next chappie, hope its ok!  
  
Feelings? Nah!  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Jenna lay awake on her bed for hours just staring at the ceiling in her misery. She was certain that now her mother would make her life more of a living hell than before. How could she do that to her? Her nightdress felt strange on her, being used to wearing pants and a shirt to bed. She also felt strange trying to sleep with out a hat on her head. Every time she heard someone walking she would grab her head to check for her hat, and then realize she didn't need it.  
  
Jenna closed her eyes for the sixtieth time and rolled onto her side, facing the wall. But she had to open them again within the next moment, for every time she closed her eyes, she saw Spot. She couldn't stop thinking about him. She was certain now that she didn't REALLY like him; she just thought he was good looking. Very good looking. And kind of nice. Maybe a little charming. (AN: The list goes on, lol.) No. She wasn't going to think about him.  
  
There had to be something about this life that wasn't completely terrible. Like the fact that she didn't have to work to have a place to sleep or to get something to eat. And the fact that when she wanted something she would actually be able to afford it. And that she could actually bathe without worrying about getting caught. And that she wouldn't wake up to thirty good- looking, muscular guys walking around shirtless... hmmm, now that's something she would miss.  
  
Jenna shrieked, though not very loudly, when she heard a tapping at her window. She bolted straight up in her bed, her long hair whipping out behind her. Her blue eyes were wide; it had been dead silent for what seemed like six hours except for the sound of her breathing. Jenna was sure she was dreaming when she saw what had made the tapping noise, or rather WHO had made the tapping noise.  
  
Crouched out side her window was Spot. Her heart jumped. Spot! Jenna rubbed her eyes and squinted, trying to see better. No, it was definitely Spot. This was a strange dream, but Jenna wasn't too sure that she really was dreaming, so she pinched herself...hard. She let out a small yelp and saw Spot laughing. How could he laugh at a time like this? She got out of her bed, the floor was cold and hard under her bare feet, and she went to the window.  
  
"What are you doing?" She mouthed, remembering that she couldn't open the window.  
  
"Open the window." He mouthed back.  
  
"I can't"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"They nailed it shut."  
  
"What?"  
  
"They nailed it shut."  
  
"What?"  
  
If she could have she would have been yelling, "They nailed it shut!" She repeated for the last time, pretending to hold a nail with one hand and hammer it in with the other.  
  
"They nailed it shut?"  
  
"Yes!"  
  
"Why didn't you say so?" A look of exasperation came over Jenna's face, but Spot continued, "Front door?"  
  
Jenna nodded and walked toward her door, her feet still not quite used to the seemingly frozen floor.  
  
'She's actually really pretty. Maybe once I'se get 'er back...honestly, is dat all I'se think about? Yeah.' Spot climbed down the viney-thingies (AN: what are those things that are made of wood that are on the sides of really old houses called?) thinking. He was about halfway down when his foot caught in a hole. He fell backwards towards the ground.... but caught himself. He continued downwards, his hearting beating like crazy from his near-death experience.  
  
The floor just wouldn't warm up. Jenna walked down her stairs carefully so as not to make them creak. She was terribly frightened that one of her parents or her sister would awaken to find her creeping down the stairs in the dead of night to meet a boy who wanted to help her get out of there.  
  
'I wont be able to get out. They'll hear the door, it's too loud. Why didn't I oil it when I was told to last week?'  
  
Finally, after what seemed like an excruciatingly long period of time, she arrived at her front door. As quietly as possible, she opened the milk- shoot and saw Spot waiting impatiently at her door.  
  
"Pssst! Spot!" He glanced around and finally saw her. He smiled and crouched down to talk.  
  
"Come out 'ere and leave!" He said, expecting her to just walk out.  
  
"Ha, do you think I could really do that? That door is so loud, my mother would wake up and hear, then come down and drag me back in., and she probably wont be too nice about it."  
  
"Do it anyway, the guys keep asking about you." He paused and smiled sheepishly, "We kinda miss you." Just to see how he would react Jenna replied:  
  
"We, meaning you?" If it hadn't been so dark and she hadn't been so tired (and if she hadn't been talking to Spot Conlon.), Jenna would have thought she saw him blushing.  
  
"We, meaning the boys, Slick AND me." She couldn't believe Spot was fessing up to missing her! She opened her mouth to say something but froze, her filling with fear. She heard footsteps coming down the stairs.  
  
"Shhhh, don't say anything." She whispered and shut the milk-shoot. Jenna turned to see her mother and her sister standing at the foot of the stairs.  
  
"Jenna Morgan Tavaleer. What are you doing out of bed and sitting on the floor in front of the door?" Her mother's voice portrayed a slight amount of anger, but Jenna knew she was mad, probably beyond mad.  
  
"Um, I was uh... what I was er..." She rackered her brain, but she couldn't find an excuse. "I uh..." Jenna was still at a loss for words so she decided to just shut her mouth.  
  
"I see." Her mother replied scornfully, crossing her arms over her chest. "Well in that case, Maria escort her to her bedroom and wait there until she goes to sleep.'  
  
"yes mother." Maria's sweet green eyes looked at Jenna and they seemed to be saying 'I'm sorry.' so Jenna decided it was time to make her move.  
  
She side-stepped slightly so that she was directly in front of the door. Jenna's hands were already behind her back so she moved them up and unlocked the door. Moving faster than she thought she could, she open the door and was going out at a sprint. Spot had seen her and had taken off as well. But Jenna's mother was quicker and before she knew what was happening, she had her by the collar of her nightgown and was dragging her back to the house. Spot turned and started towards her but stopped when she shook her head, she didn't want him getting in any trouble.  
  
"Stupid child. Stupid! You're so ungrateful, I'm clothing you I'm feeding you, what else do you want?" She had let go of her collar by now and they were standing on the porch.  
  
"Respect!" Jenna shot back and stormed into the house and up the stairs to her room. Her mother didn't have to say anything, she just pointed and Maria scurried to follow her. She knocked softly on Jenna's door but didn't wait for her to say come in, she just entered and found her sitting on her bed crying quietly.  
  
"Hey, Jen. It cant be that bad here, can it?" Maria sat down next to her sister.  
  
"You don't understand. I hate it here. The past few days were the first that I've been actually happy since...I don't even know. I had fun. I had friends and then she comes along and takes it away. How do you stand her attitude? You know, that 'I'm better than you and you know it' air she has around her? I hate it." Jenna looked her sister in the eye and saw a strange look in her eyes. Maybe she did understand. "Maria, can we go for a walk tomorrow?" Her eyes changed from that strange look to one on delightment (AN: I couldn't think of a better word...).  
  
"Of course! Where would you like to go?" She asked her little sister.  
  
"The bridge." Maria looked at at her funny. Why would anyone want to go to the bridge?  
  
"Alright." She said hesitantly, "We'll leave right after breakfast, is that ok with you?" Jenna nodded and lied down to go to sleep, she was excaping tomorrow for sure. Maria stood and walked to the door. She might have said good night, but Jenna wasn't sure.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Spot, is that you?" the quiet voice came from behind him and he turned around to see Slick in her nightclothes.  
  
"Yeah, come 'ere." He motioned for her to sit next to him, his feet were hanging off the ledge of the roof. She declined and stood next to him.  
  
Spot looked at her as she stared up at the stars. She was beautiful. That's about it though. She had no spark, no personality. Sure she was a great thief, but...there was nothing to her. She was just a girl. That's it.  
  
"Ya know Slick, I don't think that there's really uh, anything between us."  
  
She turned when he said her name and stared at him not quite open mouthed, but clearly shocked. Obviously she'd never been dumped.  
  
"Spot, it's been a day. One day." She answered, quiet anger slipping into her voice.  
  
"I know, but I guess I jist sont like ya like that..." Spot looked away, he hated this part of a relationship. But he did have a reputation to keep,and that was part of the reason he didn't want to be with her anymore. He hated it, going from girl to girl, but he felt like he had to to keep up his rep as well as his morale. He liked the feeling that almost every girl in Brooklyn wanted him. But he hated that they really just wanted his good looks, they didn't care about his personality. He was hot. Hell, he was damn sexy, and that's all that mattered.  
  
"Ok Spot, what ever you say." Slick faced away from him and climbed back through the window to go back to bed. Now Spot felt guilty, not just about Slick, but about not being able to get Jenna back. He stared out the skyline. If he wasn't mistaken, the sun was beginning to rise and he hadn't slept at all. So he climbed back in as well and crawled into his bed.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Up child! Breakfast is ready and Maria has requested that you run errands with her. Why? I have no idea, you'll probably just mope around complaining. Oh well, get up!" Her mother barged into her room and demanded that she awake, so she sat up and got out of bed to shut her up, but it didn't work. "I forgive you for trying to run away last night, you were just tired. I'm giving you a second chance, but Maria is to keep you in her sight the whole time. And what I said when I got you back the first time still stands, I will get you no matter where you are. Come eat." She stalked out of the room and Jenna followed after getting dressed in her plainest clothes.  
  
"Good morning Jenna, are you up to running errands with me today?" Maria said with a wink.  
  
"Of course." Jenna answered and placed her hat on her head, her sister wasn't as bad as she thought, she was almost human.  
  
"Then let's be on our way."  
  
The pair walked out onto a people filled street and Jenna recognized a few people she knew, newsies of course. Maria was holding her hand like she was a little child. She felt a pang in her stomach, realizing that she had actually enjoyed working for her food and a place to stay.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Slick!" Spot yelled, "It's Hook, this is our chance." Slick listened carefully, seeming to have forgotten that she was mad in the chance to save her friend. "Ok, here's what we'se gonna do..."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Newsie Friend Snatches Girl From Sister!" Jenna looked at the headline yeller and recognized her as Slick. She was staring right at Jenna and she motioned with her head for Jenna to glance to her right. She did and saw Spot looking at her as well, they were going to help her escape! She nodded her understanding of the headline and Spot began to walk towards her. Maria wasn't paying attention, but she was still holding onto Jenna's hand, though lightly.  
  
Soon, Spot was walking next to her and he took her hand as well. She felt a rush go up her arm, but chose to ignore it, not knowing her felt it too. Suddenly he pulled and they began to run and to her surprise Maria didn't try to stop them, she didn't even looked surprised. In fact, she was smiling slightly.  
  
Jenna's heart was pounding. They had done it! She was going home!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"They took her mother! They took her!" Maria barged into the house, looking dishelved. Her mother rushed up to her demanding an explanation. "I was attacked by a streetrat," she spat the word out like poison, "and he ran off with Jenna!" Her mother looke outraged.  
  
(Mother's POV)  
She doesn't understand why I need her here. I don't really either fpr that matter, but that's unimportant. She has no right ot embarrass our family by running off with a dirty streetrat instead of living with people of her class! I'm going to get her back, I swear I will.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ I sincerely apologize for the long time it took to post that chapter, I wanted it done Friday, but I didn't get it finished. Oh well! I just have to say Happy belated birthday to Gabriel Damon. He turned 28 on Friday (that's why I wanted it posted then) If you don't know, and you should, he played Spot Conlon in the movie Newsies! I'm planning on finishing this story soon and writing a sequal,s o if things do nt end the way you want them to, keep calm, im not done! 


	9. Home Sweet Manhattan Newsboys Lodging Ho...

m-e lee: yeah, I was definitely rushing when I wrote that last night, my mom was yelling at me to go to bed, so I didn't even bother with a spell- check, sorry.  
  
I've decided that I want to finish this in like a few more chapters and start the sequel....  
  
Home Sweet Manhattan Newsboys Lodging House  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Jenna and Spot slowed to a walk and Jenna let out a small cry of excitement.  
  
"I'm out!" She looked to Spot and smiled, it felt good to be outside again. Suddenly she turned serious. Jenna took both his hands so she was facing him and looked him right in the eyes. "Thank you," The honesty and completely gratifying tone in her voice made Spot's heart speed up slightly. She leaned in and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before pulling away and spinning in a circle, staring up at the bright blue sky.  
  
"Uh, Hook?" He hated to interrupt her obviously very happy moment, but he kind of had to. She turned, a smile lighting up her face. "We should prolly head back to the lodging house."  
  
"I suppose so..." Jenna trailed off and Spot began walking in the direction of the lodging house.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"I know my daughter is here!" Jenna's mother stood at the desk at the lodging house. Her face was red as a beet and she was leaning in towards Terry who was obviously a little frightened by the angry woman. "Jenna! Jenna, I know you're here!" A few boys had gathered near by and were listening to her yell, it was clear than they found it amusing.  
  
Spot walked in the door just as the woman he recognized as her mother turned towards the door. She saw him and he backed out, shutting the door.  
  
"What are you doing?" Jenna asked him and he pulled her to the side of the building and put his finger up to his lips. Jenna's mother stormed out of the building and Spot whispered for Jenna to go up the fire escape. She did so and Spot went out to meet her mother.  
  
"You, boy! You're the one she was talking to last night. Where is she?" She demanded. Spot took off his hat and shrugged.  
  
"I sincerely 'pologize, miss. I have no recollection of talkin' to nobody last night, you must be mistaken." He flashed her a smile, but it only made her angrier. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him hard.  
  
"You lie, you little street rat!" Spot's face adopted an seriously offended look and he put his hat back on his head. He grabbed her hands off his shoulders and practically threw them at her.  
  
"Foist, no body touches Spot Conlon widout 'is permission. Is dat understood?" His voice was filled with anger and Jenna's mother nodded and took a step back. "Second, I don't know who you'se talkin' about, so back off and nevah, evah call me a liar again." He threw her an evil glare, pushed past her and walked into the lodging house then sprinted up the stairs. Only a moment after, her mom walked in, still angry looking but slightly more pacified than before.  
  
"I'll ask you all one more time." She looked meaningfully around at all the newsies who still dared to hang around. "Where. Is. My. Daughter?"  
  
They all shrugged and shook their heads. There was a chorus of, "Ain't no goils here.", "Even if she was here, why would we tell you?" and "Unless ya daughter's a boy, she ain't stayin' here."  
  
Finally Jenna's mother got fed up and glared at them all one last time before saying: "I will be coming back here every day until I get her back, so you can get used to me hanging around." With that she walked out the door trying to retain her anger  
  
"Well, dat was interesting." One boy said and he headed up to the bunkroom, followed by the rest. They were very surprised when they walked in to find Jenna sitting on Hook's old bunk next to Spot. One of the older newsies grinned suggestively at Spot.  
  
"And who is dis lovely lady?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah Spot, ya gonna introduce us?" another inquired.  
  
Spot smirked, "Introduce ya? You fellas already know Hook." She smiled and shyly waved, it felt good to be called Hook again.  
  
Socks, Dog and Slick stepped forward. Out of the three, Slick was the only one with her mouth closed. Socks was the first to speak, interrupting the stunned silence.  
  
"But you'se a goil!" that seemed to set everyone off, because they all suddenly began talking at once.  
  
"Hey! Fellas! Shut ya traps!" Spot stood and yelled. Everyone immediately stopped talking and looked to him to see what he had to say. "I over heard Hook's muddah's announcement, and if she's comin' back everyday like she says she is that means that Hook has to get outta here for a while. Now we'se gonna be goin' to visit Jackey-boy for a while and Hook here needs some clothes, anybody got any suggestions?  
  
"She looks 'bout my size...kinda. She can borrow some of my clothes, but I want 'em back." Hook laughed.  
  
"Sure thing." The boy walked to his bunk and removed some clothes from underneath it. He handed them overland Spot motioned for her to go change in the washroom.  
  
When Hook came back out, Slick was leaning against her bunk.  
  
"I heard you was leavin'" Hook nodded.  
  
"You comin' along?" She asked.  
  
"Nah, I'm startin' to uh, like it here." She glanced over at a newsie who was sitting on his own bunk and staring at Slick. She smiled, "Yeah, definitely startin' to like it here." She walked over to where the newsie was and sat next to him. Hook laughed and turned towards to the door. Spot was right there and she assumed he had heard the conversation but didn't seem too upset.  
  
"We ain't together anymore," He explained. "You ready to go?" ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
It was getting dark even though it was only around five. For the past half hour rain clouds had been rolling in and it was beginning to rain lightly. Hook glanced up at the dark sky, not sure if the rain was a bad omen. Within minutes it was raining harder and they could barely see where they were going, but luckily Spot knew his way around.  
  
"Is Manhattan any different than Brooklyn?" Hook asked him curiously. They had left the lodging house and were now walking quickly towards the Brooklyn Bridge. Spot laughed curtly.  
  
"Any different? Lemme think 'bout dat...yes, yes it is. In Brooklyn you'se gotta be tough to survive, and in Manhattan every body's all nice and everyone takes care of each udda." He paused for a moment looking as though he was thinking. "I'd rather live in Brooklyn. In Manhattan you can't tell if someone's jist pretendin' to be nice, you can't fake being tough; either you are or you ain't."  
  
"Am I tough?" Hook asked him. Though the question was asked in all seriousness, Spot laughed.  
  
"From what I've seen, yeah, yer pretty tough..." Again he paused and looked over at her. "for a goil." She got a mock-offended look on her face and hit his arm.  
  
"Wudda ya mean for a girl?" She was getting her accent back, it just felt more natural. "you sayin' dat when I was pretendin' to be a guy I wasn't tough?"  
  
"Not really..."  
  
"Ya know, I could soak you." Hook risked saying it.  
  
"Ha! No one can soak Spot Conlon!" He replied not mad in the least. Hook smiled deviously and grabbed his arm forcing him to stop walking. They were on the bridge now, where they first met.  
  
"Wanna bet?" she stepped back and took a basic fighting stance that Socks had taught her during her first lesson.  
  
"You sure you wanna fight me?" Hook nodded, still smiling her sly little smile. "I ain't in the habit a fightin' goils but in this case...I'll make an exception." He didn't give her warning her, he just jumped forward and began to tickle her.  
  
Hook began to giggle and tried to push him away but her efforts were in vain. She was soon cracking up and Spot was still tickling her. Hook collapsed and lay down on the puddle-filled bridge. Her long reddish-brown hair was dripping wet, just as her clothes were. She was still giggling slightly, and Spot decided that she wasn't laughing enough, so he got down and started the tickling again.  
  
"No! pl-hahaha-ease stop!"  
  
"Say mercy!" He replied, obviously enjoying the torture he was putting her through.  
  
"Merc-hehehehe!" she was laughing so hard she couldn't speak.  
  
"What?" He yelled so she could hear him over the pounding rain. Hook wrapped her arm around his neck and pulled him close. He stopped tickling her and she put her mouth near his ear.  
  
"Mercy." She whispered, barely loud enough for him to hear. He pulled back slightly, her arm still around his neck. Hook and Spot were only inches away from each other and looking into each other's eyes. Spot realized they were both breathing harder than normal and his heart was pounding. He pulled back completely and stood up. Spot looked down to Hook and held out his wet hand to help her up. If he wasn't mistaken, she looked slightly disappointed. She took his hand anyway and he pulled her up.  
  
"I didn't mean a tickle fight." She said, trying to sound angry, but smiling despite herself. Spot shrugged and started walking.  
  
"You didn't specify what kind of fight you wanted." Spot answered, grinning wickedly. Hook didn't answer, so they continued walking in a comfortable silence. Soon enough, they were standing in front of a building with sign saying: Newsboy's Lodging House.  
  
"Welcome to your new temporary home." 


End file.
